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lore:races:orcish

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Orcish

Orcs

Orcs are a stout race and generally have a low center of gravity. They average at five feet in height and are usually heavy in build. Orcs seem to have a similar gender physiology as humans do. They have large, protruding canines and lower bicuspids, and usually have flat noses.

History

Orcs were for much of history on Torandor considered uncouth. Because they have a very keen sense of smell, they used various perfumes, colognes, and other methods to craft a personalized “scent” that was just as important as one's clothes. When other races encountered these pungent scents, they believed that Orcs do not bathe often, and the scent was instead body odor, leading other people to steer clear of Orcs. Fortunately, this misunderstanding has long since been corrected.

In historical Orc societies, scuffles and disagreements with each other were common since Orcs consider verbal debate and argument as a proving grounds, leading them to gain the reputation of being stubborn. They argue fiercely when bargaining, and even mundane conversations can lead to bombastic verbal exchanges. An argument between orcs is a truly impressive sight. The pungent scents of their perfumes and their tendency towards arguing made other races believe Orcs to be vulgar and savage people, which led to persecution and discrimination during Torandor's tumultuous past. Many people used to see Orcs as monsters to be quelled and exterminated, and so their history is marred with long eras of conflict and war.

Lifestyle

Orc technology was driven mainly by military research and development, in order to create more powerful weapons and armors. Even today, many military engineers will use Orc developments and concepts when designing siege weaponry and city fortifications. However, their technology in other sectors can seem primitive in comparison to some other cultures. Orcs generally use the technology and developments of others in those areas for their own.

Orcs like traveling in wagons or in sedan chairs. A symbol of wealth and power in Orc culture is to be seen as lazy and fat, letting others perform the physical labor of transportation while the elite lounge around. The more wealthy one is, the more sedentary their lifestyle can be.

Orcs were thought to build haphazardly and awkwardly, but in reality their buildings stress stability and function over form. Their strange looking abodes are very sturdy, and use many simple geometric shapes in order to give them stability and fortification from both raids and natural disasters. Orcs tend to build dense towns and cities, and it is a feat of civil engineering to crowd so many (functional) buildings in so little space.

Orc societies generally don't employ a lot of farming or animal husbandry, as they are repelled by many of the smells involved given their keen noses. Instead, they trade and barter aggressively to get the best deals on foodstuffs from others. In times of need, Orcs will hunt and gather.

Orc medical skills are primarily focused on emergency triage and treating wounds from battle, but it can suffer when it comes to treating disease and infection, as well as chronic conditions. Orcs generally live to an age between 40 and 64.

Culture

Orcish was considered quite a rude, vulgar language, littered with curses and vulgarities. However, outside perception was incredibly skewed as the language was usually encountered as other races slaughtered and razed Orc camps.

Orcish is a language with many subtleties and is highly contextual, and many phrases and words take on different meanings when spoken with different tones and body language. The same phrase can be either a compliment or an insult depending on how one says it, and what they do with their hands while saying it. To compliment an orc, for example, one could say “you are the filthiest, most sickening piece of horse manure I’ve seen ever to come out the rear passages of a lizard” but should use heavy eye contact and open palms with a lowered voice. Orcish is not a written language, given the highly unspoken nature of conversations.

Orc art primarily exists in the form of theatre and plays, and other forms of story telling, but their culture does not have a large emphasis on painting, dancing, or music. Many of the plays must be memorized and told through oral tradition, and exact verbiage and script matters little compared to the plot and themes. Some of the more famous plays have now been translated and written down in other languages.

A rather rude and grotesque caricature of Orcs in the past depicted them as creatures that only saw art in “creative and unusual methods of procreation.” This may have stemmed from Orcs generally preferring polyamorous relationships and a more sex-positive attitude among Orc society.

Orcs enjoy “war games” such as Capture the Flag, and are fierce competitors. Many of these sports originally started as ways of training recruits or soldiers on the best way to defend themselves from raiders, and put up a strong offense against invaders. In officiated sporting events, the losers not only lose the game, but receive the social stigma of being perceived as weak, usually leading to a lowering of social status or expulsion from a society, or indentured servitude to the winner.

Orcs commonly worship Orus, since debate and expression of emotion and ideas are so important in their culture. Orcs also have quite intricate funeral rites and there is a strong following of Anubis. Additionally, many Orcs now worship Zepherin as a patron god of their sporting events. Unexpectedly, many Orcs do not worship Mishra as a Goddess of War, and instead see her as a symbol of the Destruction and War that was against Orcs, and the cause of their misery in the past.

Governance

Orc law is focused heavily around possession and ownership, and they treat bartering and bargaining almost like legal debate. Generally, Orcs try to get the best deals and take whatever they can get away with.

Since war and conflict was such a predominant aspect of their past, Orc government was usually ruled by their war generals, and is highly militaristic. This can still be found to this day, despite a more peaceful era, and other cultures can sometimes find it hard to work with Orc ambassadors since very often, these ambassadors have primarily studied military tactics and stratagems rather than diplomatic and political strategy. Very few can keep up with an Orc ambassador when it comes time for a debate though, as their methods of evidence gathering and argument refuting are unparalleled.

lore/races/orcish.1690390008.txt.gz · Last modified: 2023/07/26 12:46 by eliu